Daily Sports Roundup: July 10

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Mets play host to the Braves, the WNBA stages its All-Star Game, and the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland.

Chasing the World Cup . . .

The World Cup offers up its Third Place Game in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, with Uruguay battling Germany. The Germans fell 1-0 to Spain in the tournament semifinals on Wednesday, and they’re listed as the -140 favorites for the Third Place Game, with Uruguay at +350, and the draw odds at +275. The total for the contest sits at 2.5 goals. Uruguay went up against the Netherlands in their semifinal matchup and were beat 3-2.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The American League schedule for Saturday has Boston at Toronto, Minnesota at Detroit, Kansas City at the White Sox, Cleveland at Tampa Bay, Baltimore at Texas, the Yankees at Seattle, and the Angels at Oakland. Los Angeles is expected to send Scott Kazmir (7-8, 5.98 ERA) to the mound in that last matchup, while the Athletics counter with Ben Sheets (3-8, 4.89 ERA). Lefthander Kazmir has been tagged with the loss in each of his last three starts, giving up seven runs over 6 1-3 innings against the White Sox last time out. Righthander Sheets was beaten by the Yankees in his last trip to the mound, surrendering three runs on eight hits over 7 1-3 innings of work in that contest.

Over on the National League schedule for Saturday it’ll be the Cubs at the Dodgers, San Francisco at Washington, St. Louis at Houston, Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, San Diego at Colorado, Florida at Arizona, and Atlanta at the Mets. The Braves are slated to send Tim Hudson (8-4, 2.44 ERA) to the mound on Saturday, with New York going with Mike Pelfrey (10-3, 3.39 ERA). Righthander Hudson was a hard-luck loser against the Marlins in his most recent trip to the mound, allowing three runs on six hits over his eight innings of work. Righthander Pelfrey is coming off an ugly outing against the Reds in which he was knocked around for seven runs on nine hits in his 4 2-3 innings pitched.

Roaring around the track . . .

The drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will take the track on a Saturday night for a second straight week, competing in the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick are the 13/2 Vegas co-favorites to visit victory lane in Saturday’s Cup event, followed by Tony Stewart at 6/1, Jimmie Johnson at 15/2, and Kyle Busch at 17/2. Gordon, Harvick, Stewart, and Busch have all won Cup races at Chicagoland in the past, while Johnson will be looking for his first victory on the track. Mark Martin, the defending champion, is listed at 10/1 odds to repeat that win on Saturday.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

There are two games on the Canadian Football League’s schedule for Saturday, with Calgary at Hamilton and Saskatchewan at British Columbia. Calgary got past Toronto 30-16 at home in Week 1 last time out, while Hamilton is coming off a 49-29 road loss to Winnipeg. The Tiger-Cats are 2-point home favorites for Saturday, with the total at 52 points. Saskatchewan slipped past Montreal 54-51 at home in their first game of the season, while British Columbia managed to knock off Edmonton 25-10 on the road. Oddsmakers have the Lions set as 2.5-point home favorites on Saturday, with a total of 54.

Finally, the WNBA has its All-Star Game on tap for Saturday afternoon, with this year’s format seeing players from the USA women’s national team taking on a team of the WNBA’s all-stars. Tip-off is set for 3:30pm ET at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.